Jan de Witt's Elementa Curvarum Linearum, Liber Primus
Subtitle: Text, Translation, Introduction, and Commentary by Albert W. Grootendorst
By: by Albert W. Grootendorst
Series: Sources and Studies in the History of Mathematics and Physical Sciences; Sources and studies in the history of mathematics and physical sciences
Publisher: Springer New York
Published: 2000
Place of publication: New York, NY
Language: eng
Format: [electronic resource] :
Number of pages: 296
ISBN-13: 9781461270560; 9781461212386
Subjects: Mathematics
Description: This book is an English translation of the first textbook on Analytic Geometry, written in Latin by the Dutch statesman and mathematician Jan de Witt soon after Descartes invented the subject. De Witt (1625-1672) is best known for his work in actuarial mathematics ("Calculation of the Values of Annuities as Proportions of the Rents") and for his contributions to analytic geometry, including the focus-directrix definition of conics and the use of the discriminant to distinguish among them. In addition to the translation and annotations, this volume contains an introduction and commentary, including a discussion of the role of conics in Greek mathematics.
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Table of contents: title: I. Dedication; title: II. Preface Chapter; title: Introduction; title: Summary; title: Latin Text and Translation; title: Annotations to the Translation; title: Appendix A: Application of Areas; title: Appendix B: The conic sections in Apollonius; title: References.